AEOGA CH73

Xie Chongjin made a blockbusting remark out of nowhere, successfully making Hua Yan forget what he originally intended to say.

Though usually eloquent, he stuttered at this moment: “Wh-what is Your Majesty saying? The Tanhua and I are completely pure and innocent…”

Xie Chongjin raised an eyebrow: “I heard he writes you love poems every day. Today it’s ‘Guan guan go the ospreys, on the islet in the river,’ and tomorrow it’s ‘Green reed leaves, lush and gray, the white dew turns to frost.’ Even a blind man could see what’s going on, yet you say you are pure and innocent?”

Hua Yan explained: “Your Majesty does not know. I once sought advice from the Tanhua on love poems and sweet talk, learning them so I could apply them to my storybooks. All of these are just him teaching me how to write storybooks.”

Xie Chongjin replied: “How could I not know? I also know that the Tanhua is an upright man who refused to teach you at first. How did he come around to teaching you later? He simply fell for you.”

Hua Yan was stunned. R-really?

The Emperor’s words were gold and jade, so Hua Yan subconsciously would not question them. Could it be that the Tanhua really liked him?

Hua Yan was not slow in matters of affection. Deep down, he knew he liked the Tanhua; otherwise, he wouldn’t think of looking for Fu Xinian first in everything. He could invite Helian Xi into his bedchamber without any scruples, sitting on the bed together to sew clothes and chat, genuinely treating Helian Xi as a brother. Yet he would never let Fu Xinian step into his bedchamber—naturally, Fu Xinian was a gentleman and wouldn’t step into someone else’s bedroom either. Hua Yan feared that if he let him in, he would end up dreaming of the two of them making love that very night.

Though wild and unrestrained, in front of the person he loved—especially such an elegant scholar—he always felt a bit bashful.

However, he wasn’t sure if Fu Xinian liked him back.

The only lovers he could look to as a reference were Xie Chongjin and Lu Xuechao, and Liu Yansheng and Shen Hezhou. The former went without saying; the entire inner palace knew how intimate and clingy they were. The latter, though keeping a low profile on the surface, were also inseparable and whispered sweet nothings behind closed doors. Once, Hua Yan went to Shen Hezhou’s palace to hang out, but the palace servants said Imperial Concubine Shen was feeling unwell and not seeing guests. Hua Yan said that all the more reason he should visit, and walked straight toward the bedchamber. As a result, he saw Liu Yansheng, hair untied, pressing Shen Hezhou against the headboard and kissing him with their clothes half-slid off. Seeing him enter, Liu Yansheng hurriedly pulled the quilt over Shen Hezhou.

Startled, Hua Yan hastily backed out to give them privacy, but that scene full of passion left a deep impression in his mind.

Those two were upright and elegant sons of noble families on ordinary days, yet on the bed… truly, even the most unrestrained scenes in a brothel didn’t make one’s heart race as much as they did.

Perhaps because intertwined with that lust was love.

Later, he had quietly asked Liu Yansheng: “Why were you doing that in broad daylight… I didn’t expect it, or I wouldn’t have barged in.”

Liu Yansheng gave a light cough: “When love reaches its peak, one cannot help oneself.”

When love reaches its peak, one cannot help oneself.

Liking someone ought to mean being unable to help oneself.

Fu Xinian was certainly gentle with Hua Yan, but Fu Xinian was a refined gentleman to everyone, gentle and warm as jade. His conduct arose from emotion yet stayed within the bounds of propriety, without the slightest crossing of lines. The most daring thing he had ever done was using the subtle romance of a scholar to write love poems for Hua Yan—poems that Hua Yan, a semi-literate, couldn’t even fully grasp.

Growing up in a brothel, the education Hua Yan received since childhood was—if you like someone, you take off their clothes.

As for Fu Xinian…

Fu Xinian was the person who would drape clothes over him.

Hua Yan couldn’t tell whether this action counted as liking him, but he felt that he would like the Tanhua even more because of it.

Lu Xuechao said: “What did you want to say earlier? Feel free to speak candidly.”

After this interlude, Hua Yan’s heart was already in turmoil. Hearing this, he said in a panic: “Ah, it’s nothing. Your Majesty, please don’t bestow a marriage decree just yet. I haven’t… haven’t made things clear with the Tanhua yet. I shall take my leave!”

Hua Yan fled in panic, making Lu Xuechao unable to hold back a smile: “Are you really that eager to play matchmaker?”

Xie Chongjin said: “They shouldn’t have been delayed in the palace to begin with. I want to wrap things up as soon as possible.”

“Qingshu, I can’t wait any longer.”

–

Escaping Chongxue Palace, the Emperor’s words had thrown Hua Yan’s mind into disarray. For the moment, he didn’t want to return to his own palace, fearing he might bump into Fu Xinian.

Neither held the rank of a primary palace master, so they resided in the same complex, Pixiang Palace. He lived in the Eastern Side Hall, Hanxiang Cabinet, while Fu Xinian lived in the Western Side Hall, Dianmo Study.

Living so close and seeing each other all day long used to feel ordinary, but now it turned into an anxious hesitation before a familiar threshold.

Not wanting to return to Pixiang Palace, Hua Yan simply went to Helian Xi’s Feiquan Palace to hang out.

Coincidentally, regarding the matter between Helian Xi and Qin Yulong, Hua Yan hadn’t decided whether to report it yet and thought he should ask for Helian Xi’s opinion first.

Helian Xi had claimed illness and refused guests for the past few months, but after showing up at the Empress’s birthday banquet declaring his recovery, he no longer had a reason to turn visitors away. Having a good relationship with Helian Xi, Hua Yan didn’t need to be announced and walked right in with ease.

There wasn’t a single palace servant inside the hall. It was unclear what Helian Xi was doing, having dismissed everyone.

“Helian, I’m—” Just as Hua Yan entered the bedchamber, he saw Helian Xi being pressed down and kissed, his clothes half-slid off and gasping lightly for breath.

The scene felt eerily familiar.

…Why did he always run into this kind of thing?

As soon as he spoke, both people inside the room turned to look at him simultaneously. Hua Yan said calmly: “It’s fine, I’m leaving. Pretend I was never here.”

He turned around naturally to walk back, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

Wasn’t that person inside Qin Yulong?

Liu Yansheng and Shen Hezhou were well-known lovers, so their intimacy was only natural. But Qin Yulong and Helian Xi… they were sworn enemies! Especially in Hua Yan’s mind, Qin Yulong was a scumbag who had taken advantage of Helian Xi.

Failing to take advantage once, he actually dared to bully him a second time!

No, he had to go back and rescue Helian!

So Hua Yan charged back in aggressively: “Qin Yulong, let go of my brother! What kind of ‘Jade Dragon’ are you? You should be called a brute! I’ll fight you!”

Qin Yulong: “…”

Helian Xi: “…”

The two of them had just confessed their feelings, and their passion was at its peak, perfectly fitting the phrase “unable to help oneself.” Although they still had misgivings, knowing they wouldn’t make a scene now and assuming word wouldn’t travel back to Xifeng, they had stolen a moment of pleasure like a pair of lovebirds.

Bt with Hua Yan barging in like this, both of them instantly lost their mood.

Helian Xi hurriedly pulled Hua Yan back: “Hua Yan, calm down.”

Hua Yan was furious: “Don’t stop me! Is he bullying you? Qin Yulong, if you’re a man, let’s fight!”

“…” Helian Xi reminded him, “You can’t beat him.”

Hua Yan: “Even so, I have to stand up for my brother!”

Helian Xi said softly: “Hua Yan, we are… mutually in love.”

To his best friend, he didn’t want to lie.

Hua Yan’s anger instantly deflated: “What did you say?”

He said in disbelief: “But he even knelt before your palace gates to offer a thorn-bearing apology—”

If they were mutually in love, why bear thorns? Why apologize?

Helian Xi thought for a moment: “Just consider it lovers’ playfulness. When ordinary couples quarrel, don’t they also have to kneel on a washboard?”

Hua Yan: “…”

He no longer understood relationships.

Standing by each other through thick and thin like the Emperor and the Empress was love. But clashed fiercely at each other like Qin Yulong and Helian Xi… was that actually love too?

–

The next day, Qin Yulong and Helian Xi visited Chongxue Palace again, this time coming together.

Qin Yulong requested to move into Feiquan Palace.

A palace complex consisted of a main hall and four side halls, which could naturally accommodate many people. Qin Yulong and Helian Xi had initially been like fire and water, which was why they didn’t live together. Now that their relationship was different, it was naturally more convenient to live closer.

Take Liu Yansheng and Shen Hezhou, for instance. Although Shen Hezhou lived in a side hall, in practice, he slept in the bedchamber of the Noble Consort in the main hall.

Lu Xuechao was happy to see this happen and approved the palace relocation.

“It seems the relationship between the two of you has been sorted out?” Lu Xuechao smiled.

Both youths blushed and lowered their heads.

They had been mutually in love all along. The previous conflicts were due to the hatred from the marriage alliance on one hand, and the ties to their closest family on the other.

However, the marriage alliance hadn’t made Helian Xi a bunch of enemies; instead, it gained him a group of friends, and the Emperor of Changli didn’t treat them as consorts either, so he gradually came to terms with it. The latter had always been a hidden worry in Helian Xi’s heart, but since the Emperor and Empress said they wouldn’t publicize it for now, his Imperial Mother wouldn’t know of his actions, making his father and elder sister safe for the time being.

He just didn’t know how long this relationship would have to remain hidden.

The biggest difference between him and the Fifth Imperial Princess was that Empress Leyang was furious over the Fifth Princess’s illicit affair and notified his Imperial Mother, making her lose face. Whereas the Emperor of Changli… stood on the front lines of playing matchmaker in the inner palace, not caring at all about being cuckolded.

After all, Xie Chongjin only acknowledged Lu Xuechao as his sole spouse.

This was indeed Helian Xi’s good fortune.

After Lu Xuechao approved the palace relocation, as the two were about to take their leave, they heard the Empress say: “Hold on. I still have a matter to discuss with the Ninth Prince.”

Helian Xi listened attentively: “What else does Your Highness require?”

“A-Jiu has been in Changli for nearly a year,” Lu Xuechao said. “During this year, everyone in the palace has been busy in their own way, yet only A-Jiu has been at leisure.”

Helian Xi lowered his head: “Your Highness teases me. I have no talents or possessions, so I can only be a idle man of leisure.”

Liu Yansheng, Shen Hezhou, and Fu Xinian held official posts in the Six Ministries. Lin Chanzhi was busy with agriculture. Hua Yan and Wang Yiming were developing business. Qin Yulong was training troops in the military camp. Throughout the year, they hardly had any idle moments, contributing to Changli in various aspects.

Due to issues of identity and standing, it was inappropriate for Helian Xi to handle affairs for Changli; occasionally acting as a consultant for Hua Yan regarding clothing and cosmetics was merely minor stuff.

His talents were actually being wasted.

Helian Xi’s talent lay in riding across battlefields and leading troops in war.

However, a prince of Xifeng could not serve as a general of Changli. And Helian Xi himself would never be a traitor to his nation.

Lu Xuechao said: “When Yulong trains troops in the future, go along with him.”

Helian Xi looked up in astonishment.

Qin Yulong’s expression also changed slightly.

On a personal level, he naturally wished to spend every day with his beloved.

But on an official level…

Helian Xi had already risen and bowed: “The military camp is a heavily guarded zone; how could I presume to enter? Although I have feelings for General Qin, I know the bounds of propriety and will not accompany him at all times.”

Going deep into the military camp meant clearly understanding the enemy’s troop strength, equipment, and tactics… Knowing oneself and one’s enemy ensures victory in every battle; one could see how crucial this information was.

Allowing a foreign prince to enter… wasn’t that inviting a wolf into the house?

Helian Xi was not a wolf. But apart from himself, no one could guarantee he held no ulterior motives. Those not of our kin are bound to harbor different minds, let alone a foreign prince.

To avoid suspicion, Helian Xi did not dare to accept.

Even though… he had been growing restless staying in the palace and had longed to visit the military camp for a very long time.

Lu Xuechao said calmly: “It is not a visit, nor is it to keep him company. It is to genuinely have you train the troops.”

“In the future, I want you to lead troops back to Xifeng.”

Helian Xi’s mind went completely blank.

Had His Highness discovered that he used to lead troops on the battlefield and was now testing him? Otherwise, Helian Xi could not comprehend the meaning of these words no matter what.

Helian Xi knelt and said: “Setting aside my foolishness and inability to shoulder such a task, how could Changli’s troops ever be led by a prince of Xifeng? Furthermore… please forgive me, Your Highness, but I will never, under any circumstances, lead troops to attack my motherland.”

Qin Yulong also dropped to one knee: “Your Highness, this… puts A-Jiu in too much of a dilemma.”

How did His Highness know that A-Jiu possessed military talents? He hadn’t mentioned this either…

Did the Emperor and Empress investigate this themselves and get angry, which was why they were making things so difficult?

Lu Xuechao let out a soft laugh, though his tone carried no warmth: “Yulong, you are a general of Changli. Don’t favor outsiders over your own.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the two became even more certain that Helian Xi’s identity as a general of Xifeng had been exposed, and Qin Yulong had helped conceal it, resulting in the Empress holding them accountable.

Lu Xuechao stared at Helian Xi: “Do you still hold even a shred of filial affection for your Imperial Mother?”

Helian Xi remained silent for a moment, then answered in a low voice: “None.”

When he was young, he might have longed for maternal love. But after witnessing his father-consort washing his face with tears all day long, Consort Zheng’s entire clan being executed, his sister’s military power being stripped away, and his own forced marriage alliance, that tiny bit of wishful thinking had long been worn down to nothing.

His father-consort had loved the Empress so deeply, remaining unable to let go even when wounded into despondency, yet after his childhood friend Consort Zheng died, his heart died completely and turned into hatred.

On the day Consort Zheng’s entire clan was executed, his father-consort had held Helian Xi and said mournfully: “Little Xi, Her Majesty is deeply suspicious. The next one will be our Wen family.”

The Wen family was Helian Xi’s maternal grandmother’s family, a famous military house in Xifeng that had been close with the Zheng family for generations. When the Empress was still an Imperial Princess, she married his father-consort precisely to borrow the Wen family’s military power to seize the throne. After gaining power with the military house’s support, she began to suspect the military families and sought to eradicate them one by one.

Toward the Empress of Xifeng, Helian Xi had long ceased to feel any affection, wishing only for the tyrant to die soon.

However—

“My motherland and my Imperial Mother are not the same,” Helian Xi said.

He hated the filth-ridden royal family of Xifeng and the suspicious, brutal tyrant of Xifeng.

But he loved Xifeng as a nation.

That was the land where he grew up and cherished, and he could never betray it.

Helian Xi raised his head, brave and fearless: “Your Highness, Changli promised Xifeng that after the marriage alliance and tribute, there would be a five-year truce…”

Even if it meant he might die, he stood like a diplomat doing everything in his power to spare his country from the flames of war, refusing to slander his motherland even a bit over personal grudges of life and death.

Lu Xuechao looked at him and suddenly let out a gentle laugh—this smile was truly like a spring breeze, warm and approachable.

“With such backbone, I can rest assured handing this task to you. If you were truly a person who betrayed his motherland, the Emperor and I would not dare to employ you.”

“Changli has no intention of making an enemy of Xifeng. On the contrary, we wish to form an alliance with Xifeng to jointly resist Yelang. The treaty will not demand Xifeng cede territory or pay indemnities; it will be a mutually beneficial arrangement. It is just that you know your Imperial Mother’s suspicious nature. With old grudges between our two nations, this alliance cannot be forged with her.”

“The Emperor and I merely wish to change to an ally who is willing to form a pact, and help this future ally gain enough power to stand alongside Changli.”

“In the future, when your elder sister ascends the throne, you will lead troops back to support her.”